Internet activists have reported that Bahrain’s Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa, has ordered the immediate transfer of Sunni cleric Dr Adel Hassan AlHamad from one of the grand mosques in Riffa to another mosque in Tubli.

Following the news, various campaigns started on Twitter in support of the cleric, attributing the transfer to his last Friday sermon in which he openly criticized the building of a new Roman Catholic Church in Awali, on a land donated by the monarch.

In the sermon, Dr AlHamad described the land donation and allowing the church to be built as “pro-Christian” and “an attempt to please Western nations”.

He urged worshippers to express their opposition, reminding them that they have previously drawn a “red line when it came to the leadership of this country” (in reference to their stand against the events of 2011) while the “rightful religion of Allah is far more superior and worthy of their support.”

He also warned that “silence in such matters could drag divine consequences” (Hear the full Audio – Arabic).

Dr AlHamad was one of 68 Sunni clerics who issued and signed a public statement [screenshot of newspaper article which carried the statement below] against the construction of the church and Bahrain becoming the headquarters of The Roman Catholic Church’s Vicariate.

The statement appeals to “those who are responsible for order on this land to pull back the grant and the permission, for the best benefit of the people.” AlHamad added:

Guarding this religion and its rituals and the rejection of polytheism and its manifestations are duties from God.

@HamadAlmohanadi: Adel Hasan AlHamad is one of the distinctive clerics, imams and preachers of AlNusuf grand mosque in Riffa for over 25 years moved to a mosque in Tubli. Was this at his request and with his consent?

Tubli, where the new mosque Sheikh AlHamad will be transferred to, is considered an area mainly inhibited by Shia Muslims as opposed to the Sunni dominated Riffa. Jamal Ibrahim AlNajem tweets:

@boammar: The Transfer of Dr Adel AlHamad to another grand mosque is injustice against him and Sunnis as a whole and a test balloon for something larger that will soon shock the Sunni street. Be prepared.

6 comments

I am sorry but this time I have to agree with the authorities for such a speech does not promote coexistance btw religions and it will lead to more discrimination of muslims in western countries ..
why will we say swiss are racists or french are racists when building a single church will trigger all that knowing that europe is full of mosques…
Discrimination in the muslim world against non muslim is way bigger then the opposite

Hajer are churches in Bahrain allowed to have their cross high are they allowed to ring their bells ?
so you kind of agree with the right wing western extremists who also claim there is a political agenda to islamize the old continent ???
let there be as many churches in the muslim world and so goes for the mosques in Europe or the other places

[…] of the resignation of John Yates, Senior Policy Adviser to the Ministry of Interior. The government ordered the transfer of Sunni cleric Adel Hassan al-Hamad from a prominent mosque to a less-prestigious […]